SUPERMARKET QUIZ: A TALE OF FOUR SHOPPERS

David Orgel

Think you know shoppers? Try your hand at these questions: Question One: Two women make a shopping trip to their local supermarket. One is working full time (at least 20 hours a week) while the other works part time or not at all.

Which is more likely to be interested in the store's frequent shopper program? Which would express the biggest interest in prepared foods? Which shopper requires more customer service?

Question Two: Two other shoppers visit their local supermarket. One is more than 65 years old, while the other is between 15 and 24 years old.

Which probably spends more dollars per visit at the store? Which is more likely to supplement the shopping trip with visits to other store formats, such as warehouse club-style stores and discount stores?

These questions were created using data from new Food Marketing Institute reports about differences in shopper preferences and spending habits [For more on the reports, see Pages 9, 12 and 13]. The FMI reports, based on national surveys, analyze shopping patterns by workforce status, age and other factors.

The research -- and these questions -- remind us that supermarkets, which cater to a very broad customer base, have vast power to predict and plan for consumer behavior if they have solid information about the population groups their shoppers represent. Of course, that's long been the reasoning behind loyalty marketing. But knowledge is a more crucial competitive tool now because retailers are producing more information than ever about their customer bases.

But how do they know how to use such information? That's where reports like FMI's come in because they help retailers plan strategies based on shopper data. Let's address the original two questions using FMI's survey findings.

Answer One: This question dealt with full-time working women vs. women who work part time or not at all.

As to which is more likely to join a frequent shopper program, half of the full-time working women FMI surveyed were likely to join, vs. only 41 percent of women who work fewer hours or not at all. But it's not that the part-timers don't like to save money. They gave more weight to checking newspaper ads for specials.

On the question of prepared foods preferences, it is the full-timers who expressed the biggest interest. These customers also sought out ethnic and natural foods, ATM machines, in-store banking and coffee bars.

Clearly, this group is shopping and planning meals with one eye on the clock. The part-timers are the ones who most value customer service.

Answer Two: This addressed consumers of different age groups. If you said the younger shopper probably spends more per store visit, you'd be right.

In fact, those between 15 and 24 years old spent an average of $99 per shopping trip, which is above the total shopper population figure of $91, according to FMI's survey. That compares to only $59.40 for the older shoppers, the lowest amount for any group.

And it's the younger consumers who are most likely to shop around at different store formats, including membership warehouse clubs and discount stores. Older shoppers tend to stick with their primary supermarket while checking out specials at other stores.